Research Information

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) traces its roots to Madison, Wisconsin where, in 1932, a small group of professional state employees organized to protect and promote the civil service. By 1936, the group gained recognition from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and became AFSCME. By 1955 when the AFL merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), AFSCME’s composition was expanding to include blue-collar public employees, and its focus had shifted to collective bargaining. Since that time, AFSCME has grown to one of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO, boasting 1.4 million members today. AFSCME represents workers in a variety of roles including corrections, emergency services, education, health care, law enforcement, public administration, public works, housing, and transportation.

The Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University became the official repository for AFSCME in 1974. Since that time, it has collected the records of the union's international headquarters and some locals, as well as the personal papers of prominent union members.

The AFSCME collection abstracts, audio files, and images on our website are just a part of our total AFSCME Collection. Please contact Stefanie Caloia, the AFSCME Archivist, if you have any concerns, questions, or comments.